1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data processing apparatus which carries out a predetermined processing operation on data recorded on a recording medium, for example, the recording or playing of data.
2. Description of Related Art
Compact disks (simply referred to as CDs hereinbelow) are widely known as recording media on which data is recorded. Recent years have seen the spread of so-called changing apparatuses configured in such a way that a plurality of media are stored in a storage section known as a magazine, a player equipped with such a magazine is stored inside the trunk of an automobile, and a console known as a control unit is placed near the driving seat in such a way as to allow any desired CD among those in the trunk to be selected and played back from the driving seat.
Meanwhile, recent years have seen proposals for mini disks (referred to as MDs hereinbelow) in a magneto-optical recording format, these being recording media in which the data-recording disk is stored in a cassette for protective purposes. An MD is not only able to play back recorded data, but is also able to record new data and to record by rewriting data which has already been recorded.
Conventional changing apparatuses of this type have had the following problems. First, when an MD is used as the recording medium, a shutter is provided on the cassette to provide access to the disk-shaped recording medium contained in the cassette, and an opening and closing mechanism for the shutter is positioned inside the carrier inside the apparatus. An opening and closing mechanism of this type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication HEI 5-174478, which has a configuration in which the shutter is opened in response to movement of the cassette inserted in the apparatus into the carrier. In other words, the shutter opening and closing mechanism is always present in the path along which the cassette moves and the cassette is therefore not able to pass beyond the carrier and move towards the back. This means that the magazine storing the cassettes cannot be positioned to the back of the carrier, which diminishes the freedom of design.
Further, in apparatuses of the prior art, the loading roller for transporting recording media inserted in the apparatus, and the shutter opening and closing mechanism have each been powered from separate power sources. In other words, changing apparatuses of the prior art have had at least two power sources, which complicates their construction.
Further, the shutter opening timing is synchronized with the insertion of the cassette into the carrier, and the shutter of a cassette in the carrier is therefore continually open. When a cassette is in the carrier, therefore, dust and dirt penetrate the cassette and contaminate the disk-shaped recording medium.
Further, the storage areas in the magazines in these apparatuses are built to extend upward in a perpendicular direction, and pushing mechanisms, which push the recording media to the carrier, are provided, one for each of the storage areas. A recording medium can be taken from the magazine to the carrier by operating a pushing mechanism and turning the loading roller.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional pushing mechanism equipped with a pushing lever 3. The magazine 14 is positioned inside the changing apparatus with its opening portion 140 close to the loading roller 13. A pushing lever 3 is provided with freedom to rotate about a shaft 3c to the back of the magazine 14, and it has a pushing portion 3a, for pushing the edge of a disk-shaped recording medium D, formed at one of its tips and a pushed portion 3b, which is pushed by the tip of a push operation member 4 described hereinbelow, formed at the other of its tips.
In the past, a pushing member drive mechanism has been provided on the frame supporting the loading roller 13 as the mechanism by which such a pushing mechanism is driven. This mechanism is provided with a push operation member 4 which is able to slide towards the magazine 14 as shown in FIG. 1. When the push operation member 4 slides towards the magazine 14, the tip pushes the pushed portion 3b of the pushing lever 3. This causes the pushing lever 3 to rotate in the clockwise direction in the figure, and the pushing portion 3a pushes the disk D towards the loading roller 13.
The above-mentioned pushing member drive mechanism may use an independent power source, but ones which use the loading roller 13 power source to prevent the construction of the mechanism from becoming too large and complicated are already known, being disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication HEI 3-230364.
In such changing apparatuses, the insertion slot and one of the storage areas in the magazine 14, normally the uppermost storage area, are positioned in the same plane when a cassette is inserted or removed via the insertion slot in the apparatus. Adopting such an arrangement makes it possible to achieve a straight line path for the transport of the cassette from the insertion slot to the magazine and to shorten the storage time when the cassette is stored in the highest storage area of the magazine.
When a cassette in the carrier is ejected outside the apparatus from the insertion slot using such a pushing member drive mechanism operated by the same drive motor as the loading roller 13, the operation of ejecting the cassette from the carrier and the operation of the pushing member drive mechanism occur at the same time.
Consequently, the loading roller 13 not only ejects cassettes in the carrier 12 from the insertion slot, but also cassettes which have been removed from the magazine 14, without leaving them in the carrier.
Mechanisms such as the one shown in Japanese Utility Model Application HEI 4-82016 are also known as mechanisms for ejecting recording media from a magazine. Conversely, mechanisms such as the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application HEI 4-82017 are known as mechanisms for taking in media. However, this is an inefficient use of space, since the take-in mechanism and the eject mechanism are provided separately in the stacker.
Further, because these mechanisms which are provided in the changing apparatus, which is to say the cassette loading mechanism, the shutter opening and closing mechanism, and the pushing member drive mechanism, are fitted above the carrier, there is an extremely large number of parts to be fitted and a consequent requirement for precise assembly work during assembly. This demands high-level assembly skills and has involved tedious assembly work and reduced efficiency in assembly.